User:Aofrancis



My name is Andrew and I live in the West Midlands town of Solihull, UK. I am originally a geologist by training, holding a first class degree in the subject from the University of Durham (St Aidan's College) and a Ph.D in palaeontology (Jurassic molluscs: Trigoniacea) and applied statistics from the University of Birmingham, where I was supervised by the prolific writer on the Jurassic, Anthony Hallam, (who in turn was one of the great William Joscelyn Arkell's few students at Cambridge), the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford and The Natural History Museum, London. I am an elected Fellow of the Geological Society of London, FGS.

I am also a Chartered Accountant with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

I am originally from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire where I attended Salendine Nook High School and Huddersfield New College.

My favourite areas of the UK are:
 * Islay
 * Jura
 * Dorset
 * Anglesey
 * Cotswolds
 * Yorkshire Dales, particularly around Grassington and Malham
 * Lake District (mainly Langdale)

I also love visiting museums, these and other places of interest are shown below:


 * Oxford University Museum of Natural History
 * Natural History Museum, London
 * Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge University
 * Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
 * Durham Cathedral
 * Finlaggan Visitor Centre, Islay

Academic Interests:

I am particularly interested in the history of science and the biographies of those contributors who have shaped scientific thought in the Twentieth Century, particularly in the field of Earth and Biological Sciences. I am also fascinated by British Political history post WW II. I am currently studying Public Policy Economics as a short course at the University of Oxford.

Articles I have started

Geologists of the Twentieth Century
 * George Malcolm Brown
 * John Frederick Dewey
 * Kingsley Charles Dunham
 * Anthony Hallam
 * Maurice Tucker
 * William Joscelyn Arkell

Systematic Palaeontology


 * Trigoniacea (under development)
 * Trigoniidae (under development)